Christie investigation, already called a whitewash, further discredited

May 7, 2014

Attorney Randy Mastro, left, answers questions at a news conference, in New York, Thursday, March 27, 2014. A law firm hired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that the governor was not involved in a plot to create gridlock near a major bridge as part of a political retribution scheme. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) / AP

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@dracioppi

TRENTON — The hefty investigative report released in March by attorneys hired by Gov. Chris Christie and paid for by taxpayers had a tough time gaining credibility while two other formal investigations were launched into the George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Although Christie and the 360-page report’s lead investigator, Gibson Dunn attorney Randy Mastro, called the findings exhaustive and thorough, many people argued that it was anything but.

Testimony by former Christie official Christina Genovese Renna on Tuesday further discredited the report, calling out a handful of inaccuracies in her testimony to investigators and flaws in the law firm’s fact-finding process.

Renna, formerly the director of the now-defunct Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, said the largest flaw of the report was the authors’ wording that the office would receive “mandatory directives” from upper officials not to rush to return a mayor’s phone call if he or she was not in the administration’s good graces.

“That was Gibson Dunn’s words. That was their characterization,” Renna told the Select Committee on Investigation. “I would never use mandatory directives.”

Renna said she was unable to correct the law firm’s wording because she didn’t see the report until it came out publicly in March (a 437-page memoranda was released in April).

“There are some inaccuracies,” Renna said.

Renna said one of those inaccuracies was the listing of 16 superstorm Sandy-affected towns in New Jersey; there were 60.

Renna said there were other mischaracterizations in the report, but her attorney, Henry Klingeman, stopped her from listing them. Instead, he told the committee that Renna would again review the report and provide a list of what she viewed as inaccuracies.

Committee members seized the chance to dismiss the report, which widely has been called a whitewash, because it was commissioned by Christie and its investigators included people who are linked to Christie and, in the case of Debra Wong Yang, considered his close friends. Wong Yang is one of four lawyers who interviewed Renna, according to the firm.

The Gibson Dunn report also has been criticized for not interviewing anyone from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the George Washington Bridge.